Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

UK Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Leo Docherty: The Hon. member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris MP) has been appointed as interim Leader of the UK Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and nominated as the UK’s candidate as a Vice President of the Assembly.The Hon. member for Swansea West (Geraint Davies MP) has been discharged as a substitute member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. A replacement substitute member will be appointed in due course.

Department for Business and Trade

Wine Quantities and Units of Measurement Update

Kevin Hollinrake: I can provide further details today of a new package of measures around the sale of wine, benefitting from the opportunities of leaving the EU. This announcement forms part of the Government’s Smarter Regulation programme. It will reduce burdens on business and deliver greater choice to consumers through an update to the quantities wine can be sold in. The Government has also published a response to the Units of Measurement consultation.Updating the fixed quantities that prepacked wine can be sold inWe plan to give businesses and consumers greater freedom by introducing changes for prepacked wines sold by shops, pubs and restaurants. These plans will support growth and innovation in the thriving UK wine industry.At present, the permitted quantities for still and sparkling wine are different, and this update will enable both to be sold in 500ml and 200ml sizes as well as introduce a new 568ml ‘pint’ quantity. Sales of sparkling wine were permitted in pint sized bottles before we joined the European Common Market in 1973.The changes are backed by business who are supportive of, and have been asking for, these new sizes. We will use the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 to reform existing regulations to minimise regulatory burdens and ensure our regulations are forward looking.Newly packaged and produced wines brought to market in line with these reforms will be able to be sold by bars, restaurants and retailers in Northern Ireland. Wines developed in accordance with these new regulatory requirements will be able to move in what is known as the retail "Green Lane", under the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme. This is only possible because of the Windsor Framework. The introduction of new wine measures and sizes was requested by industry and provides new options and flexibility for businesses and suppliers.The changes are optional, and so businesses and suppliers can sell in the new sizes if they choose to. Wine sold by the glass in pubs and restaurants is not affected by this update or new legislation.Government Response to Units of Measurement consultationIn addition to announcing the deregulatory measure on wine, the Government has published a response to the consultation Choice on units of measurement: markings and sales. This consultation closed on 26 August 2022 and received over 100,000 responses.The Government has analysed all consultation responses received and reviewed the arguments for and against expanding the use of imperial units in domestic consumer transactions. The results showed 98.7% of respondents were in favour of using metric units when buying or selling products, either as the primary unit of sale (as currently) or as the sole unit of sale (purely metric). While the Government has decided not to introduce new legislation at this time, we will carry out a wider review of EU-derived metrology legislation in line with the commitment to identify opportunities for reform of Retained EU Law.The Government has also given consideration to the argument that increased use of imperial units could provide greater inclusivity for those more familiar with them than metric. Therefore new guidance will be published to promote greater awareness, understanding, and use of the current freedoms that exist to display imperial units.

UK’s cheese market access in Canada

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Under the UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA), the UK agreed a time limited market access arrangement on cheese guaranteeing ongoing access to the EU portion of Canada’s WTO cheese tariff rate quota (TRQ) for 3 years. UK access to the EU portion of Canada’s WTO cheese TRQ for tariff-free access expired on 31 December. Going forward, imports will need to take place under the reserve for non-EU sources.Over the last 6 months, UK negotiators have made multiple efforts to retain our access to Canada’s dairy market. We were unable to reach an agreement due to Canada’s insistence on UK concessions that would not have been in the interest of our agricultural sector.The Departments for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Business and Trade have been engaging with stakeholders that will be impacted by these arrangements for several months, at both senior official and ministerial level. We will continue this engagement to ensure a smooth transition for business to the rest of world pool. Further information for businesses is available on GOV.UK.Whilst this development is disappointing, it comes following an increase in the UK's total diary exports. According to UK overseas trade in goods statistics: October 2023 UK dairy exports grew by 13.7% between 2018 and 2022, from £1.8 billion to £2.0 billion in current prices. In addition, other agricultural exports such as beef and pork also increased significantly over the same period, 25.1% and 15.3% respectively, in current prices.Working jointly with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, officials are also supporting dairy producers through a range of avenues. For example, the Dairy Export Programme which is the result of the £1m committed by the Prime Minister to boost UK dairy exports, especially amongst SMEs. The Programme was agreed following consultations with UK dairy businesses and industry bodies. It is UK wide and designed to unlock new opportunities for our dairy exports in growth markets around the world.The Government is determined that any agreement must work for consumers, producers, investors, and businesses alike. We remain committed to upholding our high environmental, labour, public health, food safety and animal welfare standards.

Update on Electric Vehicle Rules of Origin Extension

Kemi Badenoch: On 21 December, the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) jointly agreed an extension to the UK – EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement’s (TCA) Rules of Origin for Electric Vehicles and their batteries, until 31 December 2026. To access zero tariffs under the TCA, businesses must prove their products include a minimum level of EU or UK manufactured content. These requirements are known as “rules of origin” and help determine where products originate rather than where they are shipped from to ensure lower tariffs are correctly applied to eligible products and support market competition. The TCA included a staged approach for electric vehicles and batteries, which required phased increases in these rules of origin requirements. The first increase was due to take effect on 1 January 2024, before a final increase from 1 January 2027. The agreement with the EU cancelled the 2024 changes, meaning the existing rules of origin will last until the end of 2026. This extension of the ruleset for these commodities has also been replicated in the UK-Turkey Preferential Trade Agreement. This agreement has been amended by Joint Committee Decision to ensure consistency between the Preferential Trade Agreement and the EU-Turkey customs union. The agreement avoided a cliff edge which could have seen consumers and manufacturers in the UK and EU hit with £2-4 billion of tariffs (on average over £3,000/car) and safeguards the position of UK manufactures as they transition to net zero – protecting thousands of British jobs. This is a pragmatic change which will help economic growth, UK consumers, and the environment; it recognises the disruption caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, global supply chain pinch points and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. This Government is determined to ensure the UK remains one of the best locations in the world to build zero emission vehicles, and we have taken action accordingly. At the Autumn Statement, as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, we announced over £2 billion in capital and R&D investment for the automotive sector to support the manufacturing and development of zero emission vehicles, batteries and supply chain - building on existing support. The UK and EU remain determined to develop domestic electric vehicle battery capacity, so we have also agreed to remove our ability to further amend these rules of origin again until 2032. In November we published the UK’s first ever Battery Strategy, outlining our plan to attract investment and achieve a globally competitive battery supply chain by 2030. The UK’s approach has already attracted landmark investments in gigafactories and electric vehicle manufacturing. This includes the recent announcement of a £2 billion Nissan led investment to produce two new electric vehicles in Sunderland, Tata’s investment of over £4 billion in a new 40 GWh gigafactory, BMW’s investment of £600 million to build next generation MINI electric vehicles in Oxford, Ford’s investment of £380 million in Halewood to make Electric Drive Units and Stellantis’ £100 million investment in Ellesmere Port for electric vehicle van production.

Ministry of Defence

Red Sea Update

Grant Shapps: On 19 December, I updated the House on the maritime security situation in the Red Sea. The situation remains extremely serious, and I would like to provide a further update.  The United Kingdom and our international partners condemn the illegal and unjustified attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea by Houthi militants. These attacks, which increased 500% from November to December, risk innocent lives, exacerbate the humanitarian suffering in Yemen, threaten regional security and harm the global economy.  Our message is clear, we call for the Iranian-backed Houthi to immediately cease these illegal attacks.  The UK has joined the United States and other partners on Operation Prosperity Guardian to ensure the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. On Friday, Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond set sail from Plymouth to provide resilience to the UK’s presence in the Gulf.  We are working with allies and partners to protect freedom of navigation and remain committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives and commercial shipping in these critical waterways.  As you would expect, while planning is underway for a range of scenarios, no decisions have been made and we continue to pursue all diplomatic routes.  Together with our allies and partners, we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews. The UK will not hesitate to take further action should the Houthis continue to ignore our warnings.

Ministry of Justice

HMP Wandsworth Update

Alex Chalk: I wish to inform the House that the Independent Investigation into the alleged escape of Daniel Khalife from HMP Wandsworth on 6 September 2023 has concluded.Escapes from the prison estate are extremely rare – there were 16 escapes from establishments between April 2010 and March 2023, compared with 146 escapes from establishments between April 1997 and March 2010. However, it is vital for both public protection and confidence in the criminal justice system that our prisons are secure.On 7 September, I committed in the House that, in addition to the immediate internal investigations and reviews into the circumstances of the alleged escape, the categorisation decision, the placement and categorisation of all prisoners in HMP Wandsworth and the location of all those in the custodial estate charged with terrorism offences, I would commission an independent investigation into the incident.I appointed Keith Bristow QPM to lead this and asked him to consider whether the relevant protocols were in place at HMP Wandsworth and whether there were the means to apply them, including whether staffing was sufficient to do so, and whether and how they were applied at the time of the event. I also asked Mr Bristow to consider the facts of the case, including the categorisation of the prisoner, risk assessments and decisions around employment in the prison, the processes and actions that enabled access to materials that might have facilitated the alleged escape, the implementation of the counting protocol, and relevant security measures, including checks relating to the delivery vehicle. I asked him to produce findings and recommendations which can be implemented at HMP Wandsworth and, where relevant, in the wider prison estate. On behalf of the Government, I would like to thank Mr Bristow for his rapid, clear and thorough work.Due to the ongoing criminal proceedings, and the need to protect prison security, it would not be appropriate for me to provide a detailed account of the Investigation’s findings and recommendations at this time. The criminal investigation could also uncover further evidence and we will keep this under close review.However, I can assure the House that I, and the Government, take the findings and the recommendations of the Independent Investigation extremely seriously and I am committed to minimising the likelihood of any such incident occurring in the future. Mr Bristow has made recommendations of both an operational and strategic nature. In addition to the measures taken immediately after the alleged escape to ensure the security of the prison, and further improvements in the weeks since in response to internal investigations and reviews, I have asked HMP Wandsworth, HMPPS and the Ministry of Justice to take forward the Independent Investigation’s recommendations as a matter of priority.I am committed to sharing what further information I can when the criminal proceedings conclude.